Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

An Auckland North Shore resident who was stung by a yellow-legged hornet while gardening is calling on her community to stay vigilant and report sightings to help eradicate the outbreak.

The number of yellow-legged hornet queens found in Auckland has risen to 49, and 51 nests have been destroyed since the sightings in October last year.

The majority of nests were found in the Glenfield and Birkdale areas, however most recently, new nests had been found in Takapuna and Forest Hill.

Biosecurity New Zealand had laid 1080 traps, and radio tracking technology was introduced in December last year to trace worker hornets back to their nests – already contributing to identifying 10 nests.

Niki Sherriff has had two nests removed from her property on Roberts Road in Glenfield over the past three months.

She was trimming a dense bush in front of her house two weeks ago, when she was stung by a hornet after unwittingly disturbing a hidden nest.

Sherriff said she was stung through her gardening gloves, and was lucky to not be allergic to stings.

In November last year, she reported a hornets’ nest in the corner of her covered deck, and was already familiar with what the insects looked like through leaflets from the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI).

It did not take long for her to recognise the insects flying in and out of the bush, and she immediately reported it to the MPI hornets hotline.

Sherriff said MPI officers exterminated the colony, and have been regularly taking samples from a trap they had put in her lemon tree.

However she was still worried that not everyone in the community was aware of the threat and the need to report sightings, and hoped that eradication and education efforts could be further ramped up.

Sherriff said she felt there may be less awareness of the hornets oubreak among renters and people who did not normally do gardening.

“MPI just can’t do this on their own, they really just need everybody to keep their eyes peeled and be vigilant, they’ve got really good resources on their website about what a hornet looks like,” she said.

Sherriff said she was worried that hornets were in leafy communities like Glenfield, where there were many hedgerows and places for them to build nests.

To date, MPI had received more than 11,060 public reports of sightings.

Biosecurity NZ’s commissioner north, Mike Inglis, said radio transmitters attached to woker hornets had helped to succesfully track 10 yellow-legged hornet nests.

Surveillance and tracking had also scaled up as the summer progressed, he said.

He said the radio trackers had been useful as hornets began to build larger secondary nests high up in the trees, where they were less visible to ground searchers.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Social services say they are seeing alarming numbers of rough sleepers in the capital, with a constant stream of new people trying to get help.

It comes as an announcement by the government about move on orders for the homeless looms – with legislation expected to be introduced soon.

In the last two quarters of 2025, outreach teams dealt with between 30-40 people “never seen before”, Downtown Community Ministry’s chief executive Natalia Cleland said.

Before that, from the end of 2023 to the beginning of 2025, there was a 40 percent increase in rough sleeping each quarter, she said.

About 160 people were sleeping rough in Wellington within the past three months, Cleland said.

“I feel that whilst the numbers of people rough sleeping is high and it’s terrible, it’s actually quite disheartening as well to see new faces coming through the doors asking for services.”

Wellington City Missioner Murray Edridge agreed.

“There’s no question in my mind that the need we are seeing in our community, and the desperation of people’s circumstances is greater than we’ve ever seen before.”

Edridge said in the year since the mission’s community hub in Newtown Whakamaru opened, 70,000 people had walked through its doors – though some of these would be repeat visitors.

About 30,000 hot meals had been served, with about 5500 people using the showers, and 6500 shopping at the social supermarket.

“Every day I see people I’ve never seen before in our cafe.”

‘Jail’s my home’

Marcus Pohio, 57, said his most recent stint on the streets had been about two months.

He said he was housed by Downtown Community Ministry for years, but lost his house when he went to prison, and had since been shoplifting “to survive”.

Pohio said he had been in and out of jail for the past decade, and when he went to court again on new theft charges, he would ask to be sent inside again.

“I seem to have more of a home in jail than I have out here. Jail’s my home, in the last 10 years I’ve probably done about 13 legs – just through drug addiction and theft, mainly theft, and through misbehaviour.”

He now sits outside a supermarket on Lambton Quay asking for money for food, he said.

Downtown Community Ministry said it had been in touch with Pohio, who was under the Housing First service and was in the process of getting back on the social housing waitlist.

Pohio said he had seen a lot of new rough sleepers in the capital recently.

“There’s a lot of familiar faces, but there’s a lot of new people popping up, from Upper Hutt and Porirua, all over the place – the Auckland crowd are here, a lot of my mates from Auckland are here, they’ve come from Auckland because they want a better life here.”

He heard police had been moving rough sleepers away from Courtenay Place.

“All my mates have left the streets of Courtenay Place because they’ll be moved by police, police will move them along… they say take your shit and go – go, go go.”

But Police area prevention manager Jason McCarthy, said they did not move homeless people on in Wellington.

“Homelessness is not in itself a criminal matter, but rather a complex social issue that requires a multi-agency approach.”

McCarthy said police were sometimes called on to deal with disorder, intimidation and substance abuse, and these matters were handled on a “case-by-case” basis.

“Police are aware of a number of locations across the Wellington area that are frequented by unhoused people, however there is no particular location currently that gives cause for any additional Police resources to be utilised.”

Bradley Mohr said he was homeless in Wellington for a year and eight months about two years ago, but now lived with his sister.

He was asking for money outside New World on Willis street, saying he was trying to clear a debt, when RNZ stopped to talk to him.

Mohr said he had noticed new rough sleepers on the streets too.

“There’s just a lot more hustlers around… it’s just all increased – maybe they were getting no money in their town, so they come to Wellington.”

Rough sleepers appearing in new areas of the city?

Cleland said Wellington’s central city was still the main place where the street commmunity slept.

The agency had had recent reports of others seeking shelter in Charles Plimmer Park, in Mount Victoria.

Rough sleeping in different parts of Wellington’s town belt was not new, Cleland said, but fluctuated depending on the weather.

A person in the Shelly Bay area told RNZ he had seen a homeless camp at the start of Shelly Bay Road in Miramar in the past two months, but the people had recently packed up and left.

Andrew Wilson, Salvation Army core officer in Newtown, said rough sleeping and anti-social behaviour in the Wellington suburb of Newtown had improved since a concerning spike last year.

“We’ve seen some of our rough sleepers be housed now for longer than they have been for a long time – some of them receive proper mental health support and are practically thriving now that they’re receiving the support they need.”

Others had moved to different areas of the city.

Wilson said drugs were “rampant” in Newtown last year, but the police had done an “amazing” job cracking down on the suppliers.

“There is a risk that some of that starts to pop up again, and so we are working closely with police to ensure it stays out of our community, because that was a large driver of the anti-social behaviour we saw in our community last year.”

Unclear how far ‘move on’ orders could apply

The Prime Minister has said a decision about “move on” orders in city centres would be announced shortly, with legislation expected to be introduced in the House.

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith would not respond to RNZ questions about whether move on orders would apply to city centres throughout the country, or be limited to Auckland.

“The government has made decisions and will make announcements soon. All details will be revealed then,” a spokesperson for his office said.

Edridge said the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet had sought his comment on move on orders for rough sleepers before Christmas.

He said Wellington City Mission would actively oppose any move on orders if they were implemented without support services, but he was hopeful that would not be the government’s approach.

The Prime Minister has previously told Morning Report move on orders would be considered alongside support for the homeless.

“If move on orders aren’t created or imposed alongside a range of support services, then they’re absolutely ineffective and absolutely abhorrent for our community,” Edridge said.

“The idea that we would move somebody because we don’t want them there, or because we’re somehow offended by their circumstances or behaviour, but don’t do anything about seeking to address that behaviour is just wrong.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Sharon Brettkelly visits Ōpōtiki and Te Araroa to see how the towns are faring after the devastating January floods

The ancestral mountain of Te Araroa on the East Cape is still moving nearly two weeks after a devastating storm brought slips crashing onto roads and homes.

“Scary? I wouldn’t say scary, no,” says Robin Hapeta, whose family home is in the shadow of the towering Whetumatarau.

“I go back to that saying of the old people, ‘I am the land and the land is me’. If the land is moving it’s telling a story, really.

“It’s a warning shot, that’s what I reckon. It’s moving because there’s problems.”

The Detail is speaking to Hapeta after landing at the Te Araroa airstrip for a brief visit. He has pulled up on his ride-on lawn mower outside the mānuka factory as a convoy of work vehicles drive past.

The group have been clearing up at nearby Punaruku, where a family with small children were trapped on the roof of their home for several hours as flood waters and debris rushed past.

Everyone in this settlement is part of the clean-up, he says.

The main road to Gisborne, State Highway 35, is now open, though Waka Kotahi says the area is still fragile and it may need to close at short notice for safety reasons. But whānau are still cut off on the other side of Te Araroa, around Hicks Bay and Onepoto, due to several slips. Many homes in the neighbouring settlements have been red-stickered.

Hapeta says he’s “devastated for our whānau over the hill. But in saying that, they’re pretty strong, pretty hundy out there.”

Families have also been stranded on the road to the East Cape Lighthouse after two big slips blew out culverts.

“They can swim around at low tide or get a boat and some of the younger ones have got their four wheelers.

“But it’s still dangerous, the mountain is still moving.”

A pop-up kura has been set up at a marae in Te Araroa, catering for children of all ages, some of whom can’t attend school in Hicks Bay.

Tani Atkins-Waitoa has just pulled up in her ATV, and says she’s grateful that her three children can attend the school while she delivers 60 lunch packs to people “contributing mahi towards the cause”.

“We’re the road workers, plumbers, septic cleaners and we go round dropping off all their lunches,” she says.

More than 160 kilometres along the East Coast in Ōpōtiki, the town is undamaged but it has been hit hard by the closure of two main roads to Gisborne, SH35 and Waioweka Gorge, from two separate storms.

Waka Kotahi says Waioweka will stay shut for several weeks as it works to clear 40 slips.

“The Waioweka is a lifeline for Gisborne, products going to Port of Tauranga, our products, businesses from both sides, families affected. You have the commercial pressure that’s coming on but I’m comfortable that Waka Kotahi have done a very good job,” says Ōpōtiki mayor David Moore.

Moore says nothing can future proof the steep and winding gorge which is prone to slips.

“We need to mitigate these long term closures. We are very lucky in Ōpōtiki and Tai Rāwhiti, we have some very experienced roading companies [and] earth works companies based in Ōpōtiki. We cannot afford to lose them, those are the guys that are going to open this.

“That’s one of the reasons I’m not a big believer in centralisation and [that] big is better.

“With the ministers involved, I’m confident they realise the seriousness of this. They want to get us back on track, well they need a track to get back on track and I think you have to have local voices standing up and pushing that if we don’t see it.”

Listen to The Detail to hear Moore explaining the impact of the road closures on his town’s economy, the need for government support for projects like the planned marina and the financial troubles of Whakatōhea Mussels, an open ocean farm and factory.

Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Plans to fix coastal erosion caused by increasingly big and powerful waves pounding the Waitaki coast could cost $70 million before 2050, with another $80 million needed to protect the entire Ōamaru sewage system by 2125.

In a report commissioned by the district council in late 2024 and publicly released this month, engineering firm BECA found three roads, a railyard, pump stations, a pā site and urupā were at risk.

The report described some locations as extremely vulnerable and others at risk from the next major storm.

BECA’s recommendations included relocating Hampden Cemetery, closing two coastal roads and accepting the loss of private property and land in northern Ōamaru over the next 24 years.

Waitaki District Council has weaved many of the suggested measures into its long term plan.

Mayor Mel Tavendale said the council faced some tough decisions and community feedback was important.

“We’re a coastal community, we are going to be having these challenges and they’re ongoing. We do need to have some brave conversations and work out what’s important to us and what’s not as important because it’s going to get more and more challenging,” she said.

She said not all the land in the report was council-owned, so the council was trying to share the cost with other agencies, such as KiwiRail and the Transport Agency, where possible.

“I guess in a lot of ways the district cannot afford a $70 million spend. We need to prioritise the council-owned land and then we need to work with the community on other strategies,” she said.

“There are a few sites where [the erosion] is always going to be a bit further or a bit less than expected but it’s a well-known issue. How we solve the issue, that’s not as well-formulated at this stage.”

Peak wave heights expected to rise from 2m to 3.5m

The BECA report predicted 100-year peak wave heights could rise from under 2 metres to over 3.5m along parts of the coast by 2125.

Coastal scientist Martin Single said parts of the eastern South Island had been eroding for 12,000 years because of sea-level rise since post-glacial times, accelerated by climate change.

Single, an environmental consultant with Shore Processes and Management, said more storms were expected to hit the coast each year.

“I think it’s good to see that these reports are being written to identify the financial ramifications of coastal erosion around the country and the significance to infrastructure, and where a lot of money is actually going to have to be pushed into either protecting these assets or relocating them,” he said.

Long-time Ōamaru resident Peter De Reus said he remembered playing on fields at Waitaki Boys’ High School that had since washed out to sea.

He hoped the council would consult with ratepayers before deciding whether to abandon or reinforce an at-risk site.

“Obviously, you cannot guard the whole coast. It’s just not feasible to do that but areas where a lot of the town drive and routinely travel, those areas should be hardened and protected, armoured,” he said.

Beach Road future debated

One site in the BECA report, Beach Road North, has already been closed to traffic for several years, partly because of erosion and partly because of excavation work to remove historic waste.

The council had set up temporary fences for walkers and cyclists while it decided whether to reinforce and reopen the scenic coastal route or keep it closed permanently.

BECA estimated road reinforcements would cost almost $12m, while keeping it closed and relocating services would cost about $4m.

De Reus said the temporary closure came as a surprise to many people and there was little support for a long-term closure, even though it was a cheaper option.

“We’re a tourist town and the area landscape around us is critical for us to market the town as for the tourist town. This road was a real big bonus for Ōamaru,” he said.

Ōamaru Ratepayers and Residents Group chair Ray Henderson said he also supported reopening Beach Road, noting it functioned as a backup to State Highway 1.

“Some years ago there was an accident on Mill Bridge [near the town of Herbert], a car actually got jammed on the bridge and that basically brought State Highway 1 to a halt. There’s nowhere else to go,” he said.

Other work ongoing

A Waitaki District Council spokesperson said the BECA report did not include recent work to tackle historic waste at risk of erosion.

‘Project Reclaim’ removed thousands of tonnes of waste from two fly-tip sites on Beach Road North and the former Hampden landfill, they said.

The council had also been reinforcing the coastline, carrying out rock armouring at the Ōamaru breakwater and replacing sections lost during storms.

“In 2025 we had to replace some on the north side of the Holmes wharf following some rough seas and some alongside the Orwell Street pump station when required,” the spokesperson said.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Warning: This story discusses youth mental health and suicide.

Youth mental health services and wait times have improved in the years since Tauranga teenager Maddie Hall took her own life, Health New Zealand says.

The 16-year-old died in March 2023, almost three years after she was first taken to hospital following an attempt to end her life.

During that period she attempted suicide more than 40 times, was seen by clinicians dozens of times, and faced delays in getting certain support and treatment.

In findings made public on Tuesday following a 2024 inquest, coroner Marcus Elliott found Maddie died by suicide but there was “no aspect of the medical care which can be said to have ‘clearly linked to the factors that contributed’ to Maddie’s death”.

As a result, he had no power to make any comments or recommendations about Maddie’s death.

But Maddie’s parents Gareth and Leanne Hall said clinicians could have been done more for their daughter and they wanted changes to the mental health system.

A serious incident review was completed after Maddie’s death and “service improvements” were identified.

Health New Zealand national director of mental health and addictions service enhancement Phil Grady said work on implementing the review’s findings had been started and there had been material improvements to services since 2023.

A child in Maddie’s situation could expect faster assessment and access to support today, he said.

“The independent review took into account how we receive and assess referrals in terms of the multidisciplinary team in that district and looked at ways of improving triage assessment and ensuring that we’re shortening the distance and prioritising those most in need to make sure that they are receiving a service,” Grady said.

“We’ve taken those things into account and continuing to work on them.

“In addition to that our overall wait times as a country have improved over the years since Maddie was engaged in working with services and her tragic death. So we know child and youth are receiving a more timely response, but there’s still work to be done to achieve the target of 80 percent being seen in three weeks.”

At present about 75 percent were seen within that timeframe.

Grady said every parent had the right to expect their child’s life could be saved when they entered the mental health system at a time of crisis.

“I would accept that every parent would expect that,” he said.

“We’ve got a range of services that parents, if they’re worried, can reach out to. We’ve got access and choice in our general practices. We’ve got free counselling and support services. We’ve got Whakarongorau 1737, a range of online tools, and we’ve got our specialist services. So my message is to families that may be worried about their young ones there is help available.”

He extended his condolences to Maddie’s family and loved ones.

“Every life lost to suicide is one too many,” Grady said.

“As a parent myself, I know that losing a child is every parent’s worst nightmare and my thoughts are with Maddie Hall’s family, whānau, friends and all those that have loved her.”

Grady backed the state of the country’s mental health system.

“We’re working to improve our services as a whole. I think we’ve got very strong and growing ICAMHS (Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services). We’ve got around 6500 clinicians working across our mental health and addiction services doing terrific work every day,” he said.

“So I think they are absolutely fit for purpose, really strong clinical leadership, strong clinical services across the country, and I really back our staff. In fact, I’d say it’s a great, great service.

“That being said, we recognise that actually there is some pressures on our services in terms of the amount of need out there in the community and we’re always looking to improve.”

In responding to the coroner’s findings, Maddie’s parents said they hoped their daughter’s death could be a catalyst for change in the mental health system.

“Maddie would have wanted a change and improvements in the mental health system, she hated other kids suffering and we don’t want other kids to suffer like Maddie did either. So if something good can come from Maddie’s passing I think that will help us,” her father Gareth said.

“People don’t understand how much these kids suffer and that’s the thing that still burns us is how much Maddie suffered. There has to be something done to prevent these kids suffering as much as they do because if it was a medical disease you know everything in the doctors’ power would be done to try to reduce the suffering.”

Where to get help:

• Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason.
• Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357.
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO. This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.
• Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 or text 4202.
• Samaritans: 0800 726 666.
• Youthline: 0800 376 633 or text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz.
• What’s Up: 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787. This is free counselling for 5 to 19-year-olds.
• Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 or text 832. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, and English.
• Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254.
• Healthline: 0800 611 116.
• Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155.
• OUTLine: 0800 688 5463.

If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

After a night of heavy rain, Wellington Water has started discharging raw sewage off the city’s south coast, and issued two other wastewater discharge notices.

Wellington Water said a mechanical failure at 3am on Wednesday caused it to start an unconsented discharge of untreated wastewater from its Moa Point treatment plant.

It said the sewage would emerge at the short outfall into the ocean at Tarakena Bay and may cause the water to appear cloudy or murky.

The water agency said it had discharged screened wastewater into Karori Stream at 10.45pm on Tuesday. That would also flow into the sea on the south coast.

About half an hour before that, fully treated sewage was released at 10.18pm into Waiwhetū Stream in Lower Hutt, which flows into the sea near Petone beach.

Water monitoring body Land, Air, Water Aotearoa advises people to stay out of the sea for two or three days after heavy rain.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand